Improvement in apparatus for curing tobacco



D. V. DAVIS. Apparatus for Curing Tobacco.

No. 200,789. Patented Feb. 26,1878.

Jan/tel TIDavs A% 85- Ewen/iv? N.FETERS, PHOTOLITHOGRAPHEE WASHINGTONv DG.

PATENT OFFICE.

DAIvIE Qv, DAVIS, on ooKsvILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

IMPR'UVEM'ENTEN APPARATUS FOR eunme TOBACCO.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 200,789, dated February26, 1878; application filed December 28, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL VESTEL DA.- VIs, of Mocksville, in the countyof Davie and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Apparatus for Curing Tobacco, of which thefollowing is a specification:

This invention relates to an improved combination and arrangement offurnaces and fiues for tobacco drying or cLu-ing houses.

The furnaces of drying-houses have heretofore been located outside, orhaving their mouths extending outside, of the walls, and the flues fromfurnaces have extended into and through the houses, for the purpose ofconv ing heat to the tobacco, and from this arrangement has resulted alack of uniformity in the drying, great loss of heat, and excessiveconsumption of fuel, owing to the constant access of cold air to theouter exposed ends and mouth of said furnaces, which have, be sides,required almost constant attention in keeping up the supply of fuel.

Furnaces have also been located at the center of the drying-room, andprovided with flues extending therefrom to and along the sides of theroom, thus producing at the center a much higher degree of heat than atthe sides, resulting in as great a lack of uniformity in the drying asin the case first mentioned.

My invention has in view the avoidance of these disadvantages referredto as attending the previous construction and arrangement of furnacesfor tobacco-drying houses; and to this end it consists in thecombination, in such a dry-house, of one or more furnaces extendin gfrom near one or more corners to near the center of the house, and inconducting horizontal flues from such furnace or furnaces around one ormore. sides of the house and beneath the places of hanging the tobaccoto dry.

I am thus enabled to distribute through the house a uniform degree ofheat, and produce i an evenly-cured article of leaf-tobacco, havingflues to a dry-house according to my invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view, and Fig. 2 a par tial perspective view.

The letter A represents the foundation of a dry-house, and B B arefurnaces, extending from points near two diagonally-opposite cornersapproximately toward and nearly to the center of the floor, but on suchdifferent lines that they would not meet directly if prolonged. c c andc c are horizontal flues, extending obliquely from opposite sides andnear the outer ends of the furnaces to the other corners, where theymeet and are connected to vertical flues d d, which may extend laterallythrough the walls or through the roof.

The horizontal flues are supported at a sufficient distance from thefloor and from the walls to permit a free circulation of air around saidflues, and obviate danger of firing the walls in case the flues shouldbecome overheated.

The furnaces I prefer to build with interior dimensions of about twentyinches height and eighteen inches width, and of any suitable material,such as iron, brick, or stone, with hinged iron doors, leaving adraft-opening at their bottoms. The outer ends of these furnaces do nottouch the walls or foundations of the house, and their inner ends arefar enough apart to afford free passage between them, and to permittheir doors to swing open clear of each other.

The flues I usually make of sheet-iron pipe about seven inches indiameter, and provided with suitable thimbles where they pass throughthe walls or roof.

It will be seen that, as my furnaces are entirely within the house, Iutilize for the drying of the tobacco all the heat produced except thesmall portion that necessarily escapes with the smoke, and also thatsides and corners of the room get their share of heat from the flues andends of the furnaces.

It will be further observed that, as my furnaces have their mouths nearthe center of the room, and do not touch the walls at the corners, andas there is an air-space between the walls and flues, there is verylittle danger of fire.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a tobacco-drying room, of two furnacesextending from points near diagonally-opposite corners of said house inthe general direction of the center thereof, and horizontal finesextending from the opposite sides of each of said furnaces, andconnected at diagonally-opposite corners thereof with flues leading outfrom said room, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a drying-room of the furnaces B B, having theirmouths near the center of said room, the flues c c and c a, connected atthe corners thereof, and the vertical flues d d, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand inthe presence of the subscribing witnesses.

DANIEL VESTEL DAVIS.

Witnesses:

W. A. CLEMENT, Tnos. A. PENRY.

